“All of you came over… to talk about me being a… a…” Twilight began but was unable to finish. Her friends averting eyes confirmed what Pinkie Pie had said was true. Twilight felt a sorrowful swell in her chest at the realization that her friends had come over for dinner on false pretenses, not actually wanting to spend time with her, but instead talk about her potentially being a monster.
No, that’s not true. Calm down, Twilight, you know your friends. They’re just concerned, is all, she internally argued. Taking a deep breath to quell the rising emotion inside her, she sat back against her chair, suddenly looking very tired. Taking a few moments to gather herself, she finished her question. “So you all came over to talk to me about being a vampony…”
They all slowly nodded their heads, preferring to take the conversation as cautiously as possible. They had not missed Twilight flashing them a mixture look of sorrow and confusion, the kind of face one would see if they had tricked a young filly into believing something and only to tell them later it was a lie. Seeing her behave so emotionally differently throughout the evening put them all on edge, none of them entirely sure just how stable she was.
“Twalight…” Applejack said first. “We’re just worried about you. Try not to… well, take anything in the wrong light.”
Twilight put on a weak smile before replying, “It’s okay, Applejack, and everypony. I know how odd I must have been acting lately. I’ve been so caught up with everything that I have even lost focused on what I am supposed to be doing. Instead I’ve been goofing off like a silly filly…”
“Twilight,” Rarity said immediately. “We understand that whatever is happening to you is a lot to handle, and as much as I shouldn’t have to tell you this, we are here to help you. We care about you and your well being immensely. You don’t have to confront this all on your own, right girls?”
Resounding ‘Hmhmms’ and ‘That’s right’ were heard across the table, each one giving Twilight the biggest and most reassuring smiles they could. Spike had even scooted his chair closer and put a claw on her hoof, gently grasping it for her comfort. “You would think you would have learned about not doing things by yourself by now.”
Twilight felt a tear build in her eye as she gasped softly, suppressing the sudden urge to cry. Keep it together, girl, she told herself. “T-thank you all… I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, or how many times I’ll say it again. But I don’t know what I would do without all of you.”
None of them said anything. None of them needed to. They simply waited patiently for Twilight to collect herself, and give her warm reassuring smiles during.
After wiping away a bit of wetness that had managed to build around her eyes, Twilight brought a hoof to her chest. Taking in a deep breath, she exhaled while extending her hoof out, feeling better instantly on completion of the ritual. “Okay, I’m alright now.” The idea of asking again if the girls really didn’t want to go outside to play a round of tag instead of talking about something so serious crossed her mind, but she mentally told herself this was important and needed to be addressed. There’s time for something fun later. At least there better be, she thought. “So… where should we start?”
“Were all caught up to speed as of yesterday,” Rarity said. “Perhaps you should tell us what you have learned reading that book you found, and anything else you might have come across at Trails. Did you happen to find anything when you went back?”
Twilight nodded her head in reply. “Yes, I managed to find a personal journal of Trails, stashed away under a floorboard in his bedroom. It held an assortment of maps, charts, and a variety of numbers regarding something that I can’t discern yet. Most of it is gibberish to me until I can learn as to what it pertains to, but I was able to find a few things in his logs.”
“What did they say,” Rarity spoke with intrigue.
“Some of the information in the passages were already covered in the Corpus Nocte Morsu, but I did find one piece of information that is… well, is good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news!?” Pinkie Pie asked cheerfully.
“The good news is that I’m not a vampony, I’m actually what is called a fledgling.”
“A fledgling?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What the hay is that?”
“Well, a fledglingis a pony who has been bitten by a full vampony,” Twilight explained. “In a short, they are the beginning stages of vampirism. They… could be considered like a kitten growing into a cat.”
“Kitty Twilight!” Pinkie Pie said throwing her arms up. “Oh my gosh that would be so cute! You covered in whiskers with a teeny nose and UUUUUUAAAAHHHHHH!” Pinkie Pie said at the newest idea. “Little kitty ears!”
“Pinkie… I’m not something cute for you to adore over,” Twilight said, her voice becoming low as she narrowed her eyes towards her.
The glare Pinkie Pie received from Twilight made her sit back in her seat, remaining quiet on any other cute imagery she had thought of expressing verbally. The atmosphere felt tense as the rest of the ponies watched the intimidated but now silenced pony. A few moments passed before Spike coughed to break the mood. “So, you’re a… a developing vampony?” he said carefully.
“It looks like it,” Twilight said, her mood immediately changing back to the astute and logical pony they all knew. A few of them wondering if Twilight had even known how she had stared at Pinkie Pie.
“Um… it sounds like to me… if you don’t mind me saying that is,” Fluttershy piped up. “You’re developing the instincts of a predator… I think…” When everypony looked at her, she scooted herself about her chair nervously. “Well, please don’t get mad… but I would say… a kitten is a good comparison. They start off playful and energetic, often practicing their hunting skills in a friendly manner. They do this so they can become better hunters when they grow up. I think that… what you have been doing is something similar to that."
Twilight was initially taken aback from the comparison, finding that it hit true more than she first thought. Looking down in thought, she mentally ran over everything she had done the last few days, realizing that there would most likely be behavior changes with her situation, but not to the extent everypony was telling her about she was apparently unaware of. “Actually… that does make sense,” she finally said. “I didn’t even notice but, I fit those descriptions pretty well. Wow, that’s really weird and unnerving to say the least. I guess I just got so caught up in the moment that I didn’t think the things I was doing as being not normal.”
“Something else that's related that I wanted to bring to attention dear,” Rarity said. “I don’t know if I can put this delicately, but you have been a tad… moodier lately.”
“Excuse me?” Twilight said with her wings extending, the previous edge to her voice returning. She glared at Rarity, ready to verbally attack her for even saying such a thing. But before she could release an assault, she snapped to, blinking her eyes as if to clear a haze. Slowly she sat back into her chair, her wings drooping at the realization of what she had been about to do; a guilty look crossed her face. “I’m sorry, and you’re right, I have been getting a little more emotional lately. It’s one of the perks of being a fledgling,” Twilight said sarcastically. “My guess is that because fledglings go through such a large change, physically and mentally to prepare for predator like traits, that their emotional states become very unstable.”
Twilight looked up to each of as she spoke sorrowfully, “I’m sorry for how I have been treating some of you. It’s becoming harder to notice when I do…”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said, her cheerful tone having returned. “You can never say something that’ll hurt me too much. I know you can’t help it so well just have to be a little patient with you!” Pinkie Pie’s returned mood along with how confidently she spoke—so casual and not a hint of worry in her voice—made Twilight’s lip quiver slightly; she had to hold herself back again from letting out a few tears at how understanding and helpful her friends were being so far.
“Ah don’t mean to interrupt, but what’s the bad news?” Applejack asked.
Taking another moment to breath and exhale, Twilight let her head drift downward as she spoke the words she was afraid of. “The bad news… is that eventually, I will turn into a full vampony. And there’s no mention of anything that can stop it...”
Each pony went silent once again as Twilight’s words seem to hang in the air, the weight of them taking time to settle into each of their brains. None of them were quite sure what to say at such a statement, or were able to come up with comforting words for Twilight and her apparent sealed fate. When neither of them moved or said anything for some time, Twilight decided to break the ice. “I’m going to take the dishes in…”
With her horn glowing Twilight head into the kitchen, all the dishware from the table in tow floating behind her. Once the noise of the sink faucet being turned on was heard, the girls and Spike quickly began conversing amongst themselves. “Oh dear, this is more serious than a thought,” Rarity confessed.
“There has to be something we can do to help her,” Spike pleaded.
“There is, ah just know there is. But what the hay are we gonna do?” Applejack said. “How do we get Twalight turned back to normal?”
“Duh, isn’t it obvious?” Rainbow Dash replied. When nopony spoke right away, she shrugged her shoulders and leaned far back into her chair. “We use the Elements of Harmony, no sweat.”
“That’s a great idea!” Twilight shouted from the kitchen. In only a few heartbeats she was already back inside the main room with the dining table, her horn glowing as she grabbed the Elements of Harmony from their glass case at the other end of the room. When she turned around she noticed the stunned look of everypony. Twilight rolled her eyes as she replied simply, “Better hearing remember? But anyways, why didn’t I think of this before!? We should have just done this from the beginning!”
“Let’s not waste any more time then,” Applejack said.
Twilight floated each Element to their respective pony, a hopeful smile on her face at the thought of being able to rid herself of being a fledgling. Once each one was locked in, they gathered together in the middle of the room, standing in a circle in their usual positions. Closing their eyes, they mentally prepared themselves for the oncoming magic that would wash over them.
Looking inward, they each drew upon their Element and allowed the sensation to fill them from head to tail, the warm and tingling magic leaving a rush that they could never become used to no matter how many times they used them. It wasn’t long before they pulled away from the floor, lifted up from the amount of magical energy gathering within themselves. Rainbow colored arcs of energy poured out from their necklaces, twisting and turning as they meet the adjacent bearer, eventually completing a full and complete circle. Twilight’s eyes opened, her red and purple irises now a shining pure white as the magic was channeled into her body, ready to be cast upon anything that presented a danger to her, her friends, and Equestria.
Please, cure me, Twilight thought; willing the magic to purify her body. Before the magic released inside of Twilight, something occurred that she had not experienced before when wielding the Elements of Harmony.
Her eyes slowly passed over the floating forms of her friends, seeing past them their bodies and into the tiny orbs nestled in their chests that drew Twilight’s attention. She could see streams of energy pouring out from them, up their body into the necklace, and out across the connecting rainbow of magic. Each sphere was a different color, matching a single color in the streaming rainbow. They’re the same colors… the Elements of Harmony aren’t rainbow colored to begin with, they get it from the colors of those orbs!
Before Twilight could dwell on this new information, she felt the surge of energy cascade through her body, unable to contain itself any longer. She threw back her head and willed the Element’s to do their work, like so many times before. A low hum quickly rose as the crescendo of building power, a bright light beginning to envelop them and cast blinding rays through the tree house's windows. It continued to gathering energy until it would release it and cast forth all its might and then … nothing. The magic simply fizzled out as each one fell onto the wooden floor with a solid thump.
Blinking their eyes, the ponies shook off the residual effects of using the artifacts; their vision hazy as the powerful magic slowly diminished in their bodies. “Twilight!” Spike said as he rushed to her side, having stood a respectful distance from them while they activated the Elements of Harmony. “How are you feeling, are you back to normal?” Spike rested a claw on her shoulder while she regained her senses, shaking her head side to side as she came to.
Fluttering her eyes open, Twilight looked towards Spike and asked desperately, already well aware of the likely answer. “Well? How do I look? Are my eyes back to normal?” Spike’s already worried expression worsened as his ear fins dropped on making eye contact with Twilight, his response confirming the worst. “Oh no,” she whispered. Hopping onto her hooves, she rushed to the closest mirror. “No no no no no no no!”
Peering closer, Twilight spread open one eye with her hooves and stared at herself, a single purple iris with a tinge of red on the centers returning her gaze. “It didn’t work…” was all she could mumble, falling backwards and ending up sitting on the ground with her head staring forward. “It didn’t work…” she repeated. “Why didn’t it work? It was supposed to work… why didn’t...”
“Twalight?” Applejack asked once she was on her hooves, a single hoof on her temples as she steadied herself. When she did not respond at first Applejack moved towards her and rested her raised hoof on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Twalight, we’ll find a way to get you back to normal. We’ll figure something out.” In reply, Twilight’s body began quivering as a muffled gasps in between heavy breaths was heard. Applejack immediately became even more concerned than she already was, and began gently tugging on her shoulder to have her turn around. “Twalight?”
Twilight started to visibly shake and the distinct sound of sobbing was heard. Slowly she turned around to face the farm pony, revealing a stream of tears running down her face as her mouth was open, sucking in air between each sob. “A-Applejack… I’m… r-really scared…” Twilight stuttered in-between her choked tears, unable to hold herself back any longer from crying.
Applejack without pause pulled Twilight into her arms, letting the her sink her head into her chest as the tears began to flow freely from her eyes. Twilight’s muffled but loud wail was heard as she poured everything she had in her to uncontrollable crying. The rest of the girls remained motionless only for a moment to take the sight in, watching in disbelief that the Twilight they had come to know well was crying so hard, before they too silently came over and wrapped themselves around Twilight in a large embrace, each one resting a hoof on Twilight, letting her know that they were all there.
Twilight bawled louder than she had ever before, letting out all the stress, worries, anxiety, and fear that had accumulated over the past few days. Some of it might have also been due for some time now, the stress of being a princess something she never relieved herself of in the notion she was supposed to keep everything together like a princess should. But right now, she didn’t care if she was crying because it was all becoming too much for her, or if it was being a fledgling that was tossing her emotional states into limbo. The only thing that mattered now, was letting out all pain and sadness inside her chest with large tears and wailful crying, and the warm embrace of her friends around her; who held her in reassuring comfort as her body shook uncontrollably, not a care in the world on how messy their coats might become at her weeping.
They held her in their group hug with her in the center for the rest of the night, for as long as it took for their pained friend to let out everything; remaining by her side throughout her dire moment of need.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“They’re all gone now, Twilight,” Spike said once he reached the top of the stairs. It was late in the night, dinner put away, lights were off, and everypony ready for bed save one. The girls had remained with Twilight in their protective hug until she had eventually cried herself dry, feeling like she had no water left in her body. Her eyes were even redder afterward and her nose stuffy. She looked like a horrible mess and felt like crying again after she had seen what she had done to their coats during her bawling, mainly Applejack. But they told her to not worry about it and said it was alright. Rarity said she could even repay them back by treating them to a spa day after this whole ordeal was done with, a perfect way for them to put the dreadfulness of everything behind them.
They agreed they would first get a good nights rest before continuing in the morning, ready to tackle the issue head on. They managed to convince Twilight that now might be a good time to finally clue in Princess Celestia to the situation. Twilight had refused at first, but the direness of the situation and the convincing of her friends won out in the end. First thing in the morning, they would write to Celestia about Twilight's condition and see if she had any knowledge on curing her- perhaps some long forgotten spell or knowledge stashed away in a dusty library shelf only the Royal Princess's knew of.
Twilight shifted underneath the covers of her blanket, already well aware they had left from being able to hear them when they walked out the door. “Thanks, Spike…” she said softly.
Spike fidgeted with his claws. “Is… is there anything else I can help with?”
Twilight slid her way out of the covers and looked at Spike standing at the top of the stairwell, staring at her with large and sad eyes. Seeing him act so worried brought a smile to her face, thankful she would always have him as a friend as well. Watching him behave like that gave her an idea on how he could help, something that the two of them had not done in a very long time. “Actually… would you mind sleeping with me tonight? I… I want somepony close by…”
Spike’s face grew a small smile as he nodded his head and ran over to the bed, hopping up in one leap. Growing up, Spike had slept next to Twilight a lot, being her best and only friend in the world while the young filly studied her way through magic school. He was her comforting stuffed animal and reassuring friend during the hard times as she grew up. It was actually mostly Spike that had wanted to get his own bed and sleep by himself, wanting his own personal space as he grew older. But he was more than willing to give up his bed for tonight. Right now his closest friend needed him, and he was more than happy to oblige.
After tucking himself under the covers and Twilight wrapping a hoof around him to pull his body closer, she let out a soft sigh and whispered, “Thanks... I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you or the girls.”
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight,” Spike said over his shoulder. “We’ll always be here, you can count on us to get through something like this.”
“…Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Twilight and Spike performed last minute shuffling to get their heads just right on the pillows, finally settled in and ready to go to sleep. Twilight closed her eyes as she slowly began to drift off into sleep, running over the wonderful feelings her friends brought her, creating a feeling of hope in her that somehow, someway, they would figure how to get her out of this situation. And she would go back to being a normal alicorn, not needing to worry about vamponies at all. She let such thoughts pass through her mind as her eyelids closed, before a loud resounding noise echoed throughout the tree house.
*Knock Knock*
If this is Rainbow Dash’s sick idea of getting back at me for scaring her, Celestia help me, she will be the first pony I bite if I become a vampony, Twilight thought darkly. “Ugh… I’ll get it, Spike.” Twilight grumpily removed herself from the warm bed and moved down the stairs, telling herself along the way she wasn’t allowed to maim anypony yet.
*Knock Knock*
“I’m coming! Hold your horses!” Twilight yelled as she approached the door. Flicking on the light, she magically grasped the door and swung it open. “This had better be good to be pulling me out of bed this late of night, what in Equestria do you-“ Twilight said but stopped immediately at recognition of the pony standing on her doorstep. “Trail!”
“Ah, hello Twilight,” he said, a look of embarrassment at disturbing her. “Sorry to bother you this late at night, but I was wondering if you happened to notice the hole in my study room. You see, I had something stashed away there and… oh dear… you’re eyes have a tinge of red.”
Twilight stared blankly at the stallion, her mind forming a couple hundred questions on the spot to ask him.
Trail brought a hoof behind his head as he laughed weakly before continuing. “Well, seeing that you appear to have been infected, I suppose I should start explaining things now.”